Useful information can be encoded in printed images often referred to as barcodes. For example, information identifying a product can be encoded in a barcode printed on packaging of a consumer good. The bar code can be scanned at a register to identify the product and a corresponding purchase price. Such bar codes are binary or two dimensional—black bars on a white field. A three dimensional image, such as a color tile, is capable of encoding much more information. A color tile is an image made up from a grid of color patches. Each color patch has a color (the third dimension) selected from a predetermined palette. Instead of being limited to the binary characteristics, a color tile has multi-bit characteristics where the number of bits is determined by the number of colors in the palette. While a color tile is capable of storing more complex information, it is also more complex to create and to decode.